FYC: Five Best Documentary Tech Achievements of 2017

A special edition of the Doc Corner column by Glenn Dunks this week...

Documentaries are unsurprisingly scantly recognised outside of their own category. Steve James’ Hoop Dreams scored a still one-of-a-kind nomination for Best Editing in 1994, and the Best Original Song category has become a place for aging rock stars (and J. Ralph!) to get recognition for their work in documentaries. Yet outside of these rare occurrences, documentaries are almost never considered to be in genuine contention.

Considering the volume of documentaries being produced (170 eligible titles in 2017 alone!), it shouldn’t be unreasonably to expect that many are pushing the documentary medium to places that would have been unfathomable two decades prior. Those changes can be through form thanks to technological advancements giving filmmakers an ability to make docs as technically proficient as anything else no matter the budget. Or they can come through structure and narrative, allowing contemporary audiences that are hip to new ways of telling stories to experience something through the wonders of streaming that would have once struggled in experimental arthouses of downtown Manhattan.

So in lieu of a personal Oscar doc ballot (mine would include only one from the 15-wide shortlist), here are five For Your Considerations for achievements outside of the Documentary Feature category itself...

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Greta Gerwig's "Roots and Wings" Tribute

by Murtada

Before she was rushed off the stage by the ticking clock, Greta Gerwig still managed to be profound and touching when accepting the award for Best Film Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. That she managed to do that with just a few words is even more impressive.

I want to say thank you to my mom and dad and the people of Sacramento who gave me roots and wings and helped me get where I am today.

Early on in Lady Bird there’s a scene where Marion (Laurie Metcalf) drives around Sacramento with a peaceful smile on her face. Later on in the film Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) talks about driving for the first time herself, and the connection between the mother and daughter and their love for each other and for the place they live in is revealed to us. I was reminded of that moment and how much it moved me while listening to Gerwig’s speech.

The places we come from give us our stories. Those are more poignant if while young we longed to leave those places, only later to discover how much they meant to us. Sometimes out of nowhere, we remember with a jolt of heartache. For me, it’s sleeping outside under a blanket of stars, in the warm clear nights of my hometown Khartoum. For Marion and Lady Bird it’s driving along the familiar streets of their hometown. We are where we come from, and where we come from is what gives us our unique stories. Gerwig lovingly captured that feeling in her film, and paid tribute to it with her speech. As Sister Sarah (Lois Smith) tells Lady Bird sometimes love is paying attention to the details that make up a story.

Don’t you think maybe they are the same thing? Love and attention?

FYC: Best Editing, Baby Driver

by Tim Brayton

If you know one thing about Baby Driver, surely it's that the film was conceived from the ground up to move in perfect time to music. Every aspect of the film that could be tied to the rhythm of the soundtrack was: the movement of the camera, the blocking of the actors, and the cutting between shots.

Perhaps that sounds like an impressive trick. But "impressive" hardly starts to cover it: love the film or not (I was a little cool on it, overall), Baby Driver is indisputably one of 2017's most audacious piece of film craftsmanship, a high-wire act of choreographing every element of the film production process into one steady flow. And by no means the least of this craft came in the form of the editing done by Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos.

The editors' work on this film began unnaturally early...

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The Cruelty of Winona's Comeback Commercial

Chris here. The Golden Globes seem to be leaving many in a rage, despite a rather triumphant night for women with some powerful statements made by the winners. Please indulge me in my own more frivolous and hopefully levity-infusing rage: L'Oréal tricked us into thinking Winona Ryder would be getting a star vehicle!

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"Darkest Hour" Joins the Fray at BAFTA

by Nathaniel R

Nomination leaders: Shape of Water, Darkest Hour, Three Billboards, Dunkirk and Blade Runner 2049

Though The Shape of Water (12 nominations) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (9 nominations) continued their stamped across precursor season as the (probable) films to beat come Oscar night, Darkest Hour finally made a significant awards mark. The Joe Wright helmed World War II Winston Churchill drama really should have started its theatrical run in October in the US to build steam but perhaps it wasn't too late if the BAFTA nominations convince Academy voters this week to check the film out before completing their ballots. The other nomination leaders were Blade Runner 2049 and Dunkirk (with 8 nominations each). Other major Oscar contenders had to settle for less. I Tonya continued its Nathaniel-defying (argh!) upward trajectory this awards season with 5 nominations beating out previously more ballyhooed prestige competition like Call Me By Your Name (4 noms), Lady Bird (3 noms) and Get Out (2 noms).

But the biggest loser this morning in terms of nominations is Steven Spielberg's The Post which received not a single nomination. That also happened to it at the SAG nominations, this complete shut-out. Most pundits don't seem to think it's in trouble but wouldn't any other film shut out completely from SAG and BAFTA be considered "in trouble" for Oscar nods? Is its Mecha-Bait 'done-deal-on-paper' status working against it in this new more volatile "what makes a movie an Oscar movie?" era of voting? It's surely food for thought if you'd like to nibble in the comments.

Phantom Thread with 4 nominations and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool with 3 nominations also did better than expected this morning. Full list of nominations with commentary for each category is after the jump...

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